Texas Doctors Push 21+ Age Limit for Prediction Markets

AUSTIN, Texas: The Texas Medical Association is urging lawmakers to restrict prediction market platforms to users aged 21 and older.

The proposal targets platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, which doctors say can expose adolescents and young adults to gambling-like behavior.

The Texas Medical Association proposal calls for increased regulation of prediction market platforms as their popularity grows. TMA said young people are increasingly using apps that allow users to bet on future events, including sports outcomes and election results.

Doctors Seek 21+ Access Rule

TMA said Texas physicians recently adopted policy recommending a minimum age of 21 for participating in prediction market platforms. The group said that would bring the products closer to the age standard used for many gambling and sports betting apps.

Dr. Lindy McGee, former chair of TMA’s Committee on Child and Adolescent Health, said the platforms are not legally treated as gambling but carry similar psychological features. She said adolescents are more vulnerable to addictive behavior because they are more likely to take risks and less likely to weigh long-term consequences.

“It is not considered gambling [by legal definition], although it has all of the psychological trappings of gambling”, McGee said in the TMA release.

In a separate interview with KERA, McGee said high school seniors are effectively carrying “Vegas in their pockets” because they can use prediction market platforms from smartphones. She said the products are still too new to produce clear adolescent-specific data, but existing gambling research has already raised concerns about early exposure and addiction risk.

Advertising Restrictions Proposed

TMA also wants restrictions on how prediction market platforms can advertise. The association’s policy calls for limits on advertising near schools and parks, along with limits on ads appearing on social media and gaming platforms that target adolescents.

The group also proposed barring ads that use celebrities, cartoons or characters from games and shows marketed toward teens and children. TMA said platform advertising should clearly state that participation is limited to people aged 21 and older.

The proposal focuses on platform operators rather than punishment for users. McGee told KERA that policymakers should focus on vendors and companies operating the platforms instead of imposing harsh penalties on people who use them.

Polymarket told KERA that state legislative efforts run counter to the federal regulatory framework overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Kalshi and the Coalition for Prediction Markets did not respond to KERA before publication.

Texas Review Adds to Prediction Market Fight

Texas is one of the states where sports betting remains illegal, making prediction markets a sensitive policy issue. TMA said the state does not currently govern prediction market platforms because they are regulated federally by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and are not classified as gambling.

The issue is already part of Texas legislative discussions. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick previously instructed the Senate State Affairs Committee to study prediction markets as possible gambling loopholes, including whether platforms are exploiting federal law to bypass Texas gambling prohibitions.

The Texas proposal lands within the broader prediction market debate, where state regulators, lawmakers and platform operators are disputing whether event contracts should be treated as financial products or gambling activity.

Other states have also moved to ban, restrict or challenge prediction markets. Minnesota became the first state to pass a ban earlier this year, though that measure has been stalled by litigation involving Kalshi and Polymarket.

TMA’s position is notable because it focuses on age access and marketing, rather than only whether prediction markets are legal. If Texas lawmakers advance similar rules, the state could become an important test case for how public health concerns are applied to prediction market platforms.

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